schrute's journal
 

I've had her 2 months and 3900 miles, figured it was time to start a journal.

No major mods yet, got a few things planned when $$ allows.

Purchase date: 8/17/09

Platinum Graphite w/ Touring package and Floormats

MSRP (w/Destination): $35,295
Invoice (per edmunds.com): $32,728
Purchased for: $31,806 (before TTL, GAP and dreaded $300 "Dealer Fee")

Included in the deal: Clear Bra, Tint (details below)

Delivered at night as the dealership was closing. My patient wife (on the phone) and a dealership employee in the pic...

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...ture5151-z.jpg

First mods were part of the deal (Installed 8/24/09):

Tint (18% Hatch, 25% Quarters and 55% Fronts to keep the Po-Po away)

Venture Shield (Clear Bra competitor - Half Hood/Fenders, Bumper, Headlights and Mirrors)

Went back to the same shop a week later to have the rocker panels and rear fenders done (8/31/09 - paid an additional $140)

Didn't want the rear spoiler (I really like the lines on the rear of the car without it) or the 19's (although they have since grown on me) so I opted against the sport package.

Wouldn't mind everything else the sport pack comes with (BBK, LSD, SRM) - Oh well. LSD is on my list, BBK on there too if I decide to track it (won't happen soon with winter coming - do any BBK's fit with 18's?).

Wheels were the next mod. A friend of a friend had these wheels sitting in his garage that I picked up for a steal (his Z33 having been sold sometime before):

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...rute-sig-3.jpg

Racing Hart CP-F Tune R
18x9 +23 F
18x10+23 R

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...90919-1818.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...90919-1747.jpg

Coming from a Z33 the offsets aren't perfect but they are very close. The fronts are flush with 245/45 rubber (stock rears moved to the front). The rear wheels are inset about 10mm. I was going to put spacers on the rear but put 295/35 rubber instead (went with Yokohama Advan Sports to match the fronts). The rear rims aren't flush but the tires are dead level with the fenders. With a narrower tire a spacer would have been necessary but not with the 295's. The stagger is a bit much, I know. I may go back to 275/40's when these wear out and space the rears. Or I may get 19's down the road - time will tell.

For now I really like these rims on the Z. They are a relatively light wheel, and I like the two-tone look and the (stepped) lip.

The valve stem holes had to be drilled out a bit to accept the TPMS but it was worth it to turn off that light on the dash, the blinking for the first couple miles every trip without the TPMS mounted got annoying.

295/35's:

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...90919-1726.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...90919-1726.jpg

The stock 18" rims were powdercoated "solar black" by a local shop for $60 each. I mounted Blizzaks in the stock sizes (225/50, 245/45). The Z is my only car right now so on light snow days I'll drive it. The rears are a bit wide for snow, but I wanted to maintain some performance for the 90% of the driving I'll do this winter that's not in the snow.

These are sitting in the garage waiting for the white stuff to arrive.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...intershoes.jpg

On worse snow days I'll carpool with the wife in her Xterra. She has a 2009 Red Alert that she saw on the lot the night we bought my Z and "had to have" - we came back 2 days later and bought it. She went from an Xterra to a Pathfinder then back to an Xterra. Women! :)

Speaking of previous rides, this was mine before the Z.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...7098-titan.jpg

The Titan was a great truck. I may get another one when the Z is paid off.

Back to the Z, next I added a ScanGauge II that I had in the Titan. Modshack sold me a nifty bracket for the ScanGauge at a great price (Thanks Modshack!).

The GPS I had in the Titan was a little big for the smaller cockpit in the Z so I picked up a Garmin 1250T, works great. Real time traffic is a nice feature that I haven't had in a GPS before.

I mounted the GPS to the dash with the disc that it came with. The windshield mount would have been in the way of the sunshade that I use whenever parked outside.

In the pic below the GPS is in Speedometer mode - easy to read quickly while driving fast (which I often do) :)

Crappy phone pic...

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...90918-1636.jpg

First Oil Change was done on 9/1/09 at 1346 miles.

AK's Oil Change DIY was a big help. I've been changing my own oil all of my adult life, but even if it had been my first time AK's DIY would have made it easy. Thanks AK!

For anyone thinking about changing your own oil for the first time, check out AK's DIY and do it! You'll develop a bond with your car that you didn't have before by taking care of it yourself :)

I used Mobil 1 5W30 (which you can get anywhere) and a Purolator Pure One filter (part# PL14610, which is a little longer than the PL14612 that Purolator recommends for the Z). No reason not to go with the bigger filter which has more filter material to clean the oil and fits no problem. I got the filter at Pep Boys.

Always use a new crush gasket on the oil pan drain bolt when changing your oil. They're cheap!

My Z at stock height doesn't scrape at all on these ramps - they work great.

Stuck oil filters are no problem for this tool. It's also handy for giving the filter the last 1/4 turn after hand tight when installing.

looks great, and yes, the stock bbk will fit 18s.

Thanks for the info about the ramps. I was looking for ramps ust the other day since I do my own oil changes and was concerned with the clearance factor.

Nice journal! :tiphat: I do have reservations about using plain Mobil1 though, from what I've read here and elsewhere. Your mileage racked up quickly, buy a beater car for those trips to 7-11!

That's good news. Thanks! I'm diggin' the black/red on yours...

Those ramps work great for me. I hope they work well for you too.

I've used M1 for a long time but reading this forum lead me to switch to Redline and the full AK treatment (filter mag, magnetic drain plug) on the 2nd oil change, which I just did a couple days ago.

My commute is 30 miles each way, so yeah the miles rack up. I did stop by 7-11 for a donut and chocolate milk yesterday after work... are you following me? :rofl2:

Next mod was to change out the yellowish bulbs in the car to some nice white LED's. Got all the bulbs from v-leds.com

I started with the license plate bulbs, another DIY from AK helped a lot. This mod is officially the quickest mod to date, took about 1 minute per bulb, lol.

It was so easy I ordered more bulbs, did the map lights next. Thanks for the DIY DIGItonium!

Next was the parking lights. This thread helped.

With all the other yellowish bulbs replaced the vanity mirrors were next. DIGItonium has another helpful DIY here. Thanks again man!

Almost forgot, replaced the cargo area courtesy light and reverse lights with LED's also. The car looks way better with all these bulbs white instead of yellow. The DIY's helped a ton. This forum rocks!

I've seen only 3 Z34's (besides mine) around town (Salt Lake City).

First one (not one of the three) was at the auto show a year ago when the Z was brand new. Sat in it (PW) and fell in love.

First one on the road was in Ft. Union a few months ago, black on black - looked fantastic!

Right after I bought mine I saw another black on black in late August (could be the same car I guess) but this one also had a tint strip across the top of the windshield. 21st South and I-15 by the Home Depot and Best Buy. Was that anyone here?

Third one was yesterday by the Del Taco (7-11 and Del Taco, I need to eat better) on 3200 W and 201. PW/Sport pulled up behind me at a light, gave him a thumbs up out the window and got one back. I really like the PW, ever since that auto show.

It's cool to see another Z34 on the road but it's also cool that there isn't that many. I get looks and thumbs up all the time. I come out of stores and find people checking out the Z. Gas fillups usually come with a conversation with somebody.

I'd be checking it out too if it wasn't mine. I still peek in the garage just to have a look. Love this car!

Next mod was a Stant InStant Fill Gas Cap. One less step when gassing up and no cap dangling from the door. No CEL's. Got one for the wife's Xterra also. Thanks kdo2milger for the post!

Haha, does this count as a mod?

2nd Oil Change was done on 10/17/09 at 3807 miles.

This time I switched to Redline 5W30 after reading many posts about oil on this forum. :icon08:

I also added the Magnetic Oil Pan Drain Bolt and Filter Mag from AK's DIY Oil Change thread. AK's put a lot of work into this forum - thanks man!

I forgot to swing by Pep Boys for a filter so I used a Nissan OEM filter (I bought a 10 pack a while ago and have a few left). Part #15208-9E000 is what I used becuase it's what I had and it fit. I'll switch back to the Purolator Pure One #PL14610 next time.

I also used a new crush gasket on the drain bolt.

I spent $130 on this oil change - nothing's too good for my baby! :)

I forgot to put in the first post that after the deal was done and we were going over the delivery checklist there was a 2 1/2" scratch in the passenger door that was pretty deep but wasn't noticeable before they washed and detailed it (the car was dirty from a recent rain when we test drove it). The deal was done and the car was the only PG on the lot - I was already emotionally attached LOL. I wasn't happy about the scratch of course but they assured me that their paint guy could fix it.

I have to give the dealer and their paint guy credit. If I didn't show you where the scratch was and if the light wasn't just so you would never find it. The guy pretty much made it disappear.

Sucks that I have two door dings since then on the driver door. I park out away from everyone whenever possible and my car is still an idiot magnet apparantly. I'll get the dings fixed probably but with my luck they'll be back before long.

A tip for new Z owners:

If you're going to put on a clear bra, and I suggest you do - do it immediately!

Don't wait! I had to wait a week before I had a day off to get it done and during that week I got a rock chip in the paint on the bumper.

I asked the dealer to have their tint/clear bra shop fix the little chip before installing the clear bra and was assured that they would. Someone dropped the ball and it didn't happen. Once the clear bra was installed it was too late, no way was the shop going to redo the entire front bumper for one rock chip that pretty much only I notice.

They did redo two windows where the tint wasn't perfect. In the end I was 95% pleased with the job they did and that's better than average for me.

I use Excel to track mileage and other things.

22.7mpg so far - better than expected. My commute is all freeway but I don't drive like Grandma!

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...e7099-fuel.jpg

BTW both of my Grandma's never learned to drive. They were both driven around by their husbands their entire lives. Can you imagine going your whole life without the thrill of driving? I can't!

Some better (still not great) interior pics:

Scangauge with Modshack bracket

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...cangaugeii.jpg

Garmin 1250T mounted on dash

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...armin1250t.jpg

You never know when one of these will come in handy. Nice to have when you need it. (Mag-lite)

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...re7102-mag.jpg

Installed an Escort 9500ix after changing the oil the other night. Was a piece of cake thanks to par4bmw's DIY. Thanks!

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...cort9500ix.jpg

Then I installed a Nismo Titanium shift knob. Looks and feels great!

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...anium-knob.jpg

I didn't have any trouble getting the stock knob off. I put a strap wrench on the knob (while keeping the lower shift linkage under the boot from spinning with some pliers and a piece of rubber). The knob spun right off easily. No loctite here I guess.

Wow man your Z has come a long way and it looks great! I thought the dealerships paint guy did an ok job on my paint and chip but it was nothing spectacular. I'm glad to hear that they did a good job on yours! Keep up the good work and nice looking journal

^Thanks man.

Did you get your Z at KG Orem? Did yours have a paint problem at delivery also? They need to be more careful LOL.

How are the steps on your truck? Did you get them installed?

Nice progress so far!

You should use a site called Fuelly to track your gas mileage! Another member on here posted about it a couple of months and I've been really addicted to it. That may simplify your life a bit :)

^Thanks for the tip. I'll check out that website.

Baseline (stock) Dyno today at 4200 miles. ZCOU (Z Club of Utah) Dyno Day - met some great people.

274.67 HP



http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...7257-275hp.jpg

The shop was having trouble getting an RPM reading. Something wrong with the electrical pickup. So I only got a HP number this time. Seems like mine is in line with what Z34s are putting down stock.

Some more videos from today:







One of these is not like the others, lol

Pics from ZCOU (Z club of Utah) Dyno Day today

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...91024-1221.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...91024-1221.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...91024-1221.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...91024-1220.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...91024-1113.jpg

Great journal. Were the bulbs for your license plate the same fir your map light/dome?

Do you think the front of the nismo would have more or less clearance than the front of the touring in regards to those ramps.

^Thanks.

Yes, I used the same bulbs in the map lights as the license plate. They're perfect for the license plate but maybe a little bright as map lights - but not too bad.

The front spoiler of the Nismo sticks out pretty far. I bet you can get some some ramps to work by using a couple of 2x6's about 3 feet long in front of the ramps, otherwise I think you would scrape.

Nice read, you know what you need on that bad boy? a nice set of HFC's :)

^Thanks, and you're right. I do need HFCs. And a CBE. And... a bunch of other stuff, lol.

My employer gives our annual bonus in February. Mine is already spent in my head :driving:

Same here. I have a bonus coming in February (about 5k) and my tax return, of course.

I've already spent it in my head!

EDIT:

I noticed your mpg average. I've only averaged 16.9 so far since I got the car last week (still on first half tank of gas) with mostly 45 mph zones with a few lights. Not exactly stop and go, but a good bit of 55 mph country highways too. Is that just my first tank? Perhaps the gas in the car? I would love to get above 18 or 19 mpg.

Yeah I got my Z at KG Orem! I don't know what the deal is with them and paint there were only two Z's there that didn't have a paint problem when I picked mine up.

The steps are freaking awesome!! I love them and they went on great, thanks for such a great deal on those!

Oh btw, my girlfriend says thanks for the steps too haha, she is short and likes that she doesnt have a four foot hop to get into my truck anymore. :bowrofl:

Ah! I can't believe I missed the dyno day! :( stupid work, I wish I could have been there, those numbers your Z put down are great, I need to get mine to a dyno asap.

I wouldn't worry about it until you've run through a couple tanks to see what you get. Who knows what dealers really put in there for your first tank. I ran my first tank through pretty quick with easy miles on the highway mostly to get it out of there.

I'm getting better mileage than I expected to get as I do get on the throttle pretty frequently, but between the opportunities I have to "get on it" most of my miles are pretty easy highway miles going to work and back. The more city driving you do the closer you will get to the EPA's city rating of 18 MPG.

On other Nissan vehicles I've owned I also noticed a bump in gas mileage when I got to about 10k miles. We'll see if the Z shows the same improvement in a few months.

It was fun! I had to leave after the first few dyno runs to go to work myself. Work gets in the way of a lot of fun!

I'm glad the steps are working out on your truck. My wife is a shorty too, she pretty much insisted on them, lol.

Good progress !

A couple of us are running AP Racing BBKs with 18" wheels fyi. Fronts on mine are 18x10 vs 14+" diameter rotors. Not saying all combos will work, suggest you get the cad drawings to check yourself - or buy a proven combo

awesome z schrute!

I bet those AP's are amazing. I would love a set of those, but to be honest a BBK is a few mods down my list and the AP's might be out of reach. I enjoy reading about them in your posts though!

Thanks 6spd!

I've had a buzz/rattle that's been bothering me pretty much since the car was new. At first I thought it was coming from the crossbar in the rear, but to find out for sure I asked the wife to ride back there in the hatch (just for a mile or so, lol) and she found that is was coming from the headliner, just in front of the hatch and just a little to the right of the centerline of the car. She's a good sport, isn't she? No pics of her riding back there, I know my limits. :rofl2:

Today I finally got around to pulling out all the trim to get under the headliner. There's a couple threads already with pics on how to remove all the rear trim so I won't post those pics unless someone asks.

Pulling down the headliner.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...4-img-3540.jpg

This is what it looks like above the headliner at the back rear of the car (just in front of the hatch). A little piece of Dynamt was already here, but it's not doing its job - there's still a rattle up here somewhere.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...5-img-3542.jpg

A little tapping in the area and the rattle is found. This little wire just to the right of the centerline of the car at the rear of the headliner sounds like the culprit. The fastener that attaches it to the roof buzzed pretty good when I tapped on the roof. It was a surpise that the source of the noise that's been bugging me for a while pretty much every time I drove the car was coming from a little wire.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...6-img-3543.jpg

A little Dynamat should solve this problem.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...7-img-3545.jpg

Covered the wire/fastener with the Dynamat.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...8-img-3544.jpg

While I was at it I decided to cover the rest of this wire above the headliner with some Dynamat.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...1-img-3549.jpg

While I was tapping to find the rattle source these fasteners that hold the headliner to the roof were a little buzzy too.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...9-img-3547.jpg

A little electrical tape should make sure these don't rattle either.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...0-img-3548.jpg

While I had the hatch area all apart I did some more tapping and found a rattle in the area below the crossbar. On the left is the amp for the bose system, on the right is the bluetooth module on top with the XM module right below it. The little black thing on top of the BT module is the BT antenna.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...2-img-3550.jpg

The rattle in this area was coming from each side of the bluetooth module where it attaches to its bracket. A little Dynamat to dampen the rattle was applied to each side bracket.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...3-img-3551.jpg

A little more tapping and another rattle was found at the back of the car. There are two of these brackets on the back wall of the hatch area (just behind the spare tire).

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...4-img-3554.jpg

Some more Dynamat applied where these brackets attach to the car.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...5-img-3556.jpg

More tapping after the Dynamat was applied and no more rattle.

That was all the rattles I could find in the back of the car by just tapping on stuff. The real test would come on the road. I'm very happy to say that my first drive with everything back together was pretty much rattle free. I still had a faint rattle from somewhere in the back of the car but it's nowhere near as loud as the one that seems to be eliminated above the headliner. It's a relief to have the loud rattle, the one I could hear above the radio, gone. The faint rattle I still have could only be heard with the radio off and me listening intently. I amost always drive with music playing so I doubt the faint rattle I heard will bother me anywhere near as bad. We'll see!

UPDATE: I'm 99% sure that the wire I found in the headlined goes to the XM antenna on the roof. So, if you don't have the Touring package, my rattle is not your rattle and this post won't help you. Don't want to waste anyone's time. :)

I don't like the "egg yolk" look from the stock turn signal bulbs in the tail lights so I got these bulbs from Amazon. Finally got around to putting them in tonight.

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...6-img-3564.jpg

Stock bulb

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...7-img-3566.jpg

No more egg yolk

http://www.the370z.com/members/schru...8-img-3567.jpg